Ran across this article a while back, and it scares the shit out of me. There are a few different reasons for that. I ruptured my Achilles tendon in 2005 and got a post-op infection that would not fucking go away and ended up having to be cut out of my foot, leading to a lovely lump of scar tissue on the back of my left ankle. Both my sisters are nurses, and my little sis has worked in a surgical recovery ward, which is a great place to get, for example, C. Difficile, if you like your modern cholera with a side of untreatability.
This seems a little silly:
removing antibiotics from hog raising would force farmers to spend $4.50 more per pig, a cost that would be passed on to consumers.
Really? $4.50 per pig? So let’s find out how much you get from a pig. I found this article that estimates a reasonably-sized pig would give 115-150 pounds of meat. So you’re talking about LESS THAN FIVE CENTS PER POUND. Doesn’t seem worth the potential costs.
I’m relieved to find that the agent used in antibacterial soap, triclosan, doesn’t have clear catastrophe associated just yet, since I can’t seem to convince my loved ones not to buy the stuff. Still, I’m alarmed to know that it’s a cleaning agent that keeps operating rooms and doctors bacteria-free – that means that if/when the resistance does show up, there will be a much greater risk of infection to begin with.
I don’t know what the answer is here. Having had a major infection for 8 months, I can tell you that it’s no bloody fun. At the same time, I seem to be allergic to most antibiotics and get fissures in various un-fun places when I take them. I think the most exciting game in town is medical nanotechnology, but we’re a long inning away from that one at the moment.
So for the moment all I can see to do is wait, and watch, and try to convince leaders to move the goalposts towards a focus on societal good. What with an election year coming up provincially and another federally, it’s maybe not a bad time to be seeing that side of things.